Introduction to Ethics

Here are the T.A.s’ office locations and office hours: (last revised January 16, 2018)

March 29, 2018:

Today I sent the following email message to all enrolled students:

From: Eggleston, Ben
Sent: Thursday, March 29, 2018 9:57 AM
To: PHIL160{60839}Sp18
Cc: Alvarado, Ramon; Choi, Dong Yong; Ozen, Vasfi Onur; Porter, Benjamin Isaac Meyer; Tamez, Alejandro David
Subject: Blackboard issue affecting test 2 reportedly resolved

Dear students,

Based on the following message, I will leave the testing interval for test 2 unchanged. Good luck on the test!

Best,

Professor Eggleston

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From: KU Information Technology
Sent: Thursday, March 29, 2018 8:50 AM
To: KU Information Technology
Subject: Blackboard service has been restored

3/29/18 8:30 a.m.

Blackboard is now available. KU IT staff have resolved the issues and verified that the service has been restored. If you continue to experience problems logging into Blackboard or other KU technology services, please contact the IT Customer Service Center at 785-864-8080 or itcsc@ku.edu.

We appreciate your patience as we worked to restore service.

Thank you.

March 29, 2018:

Today I sent the following email message to all enrolled students:

From: Eggleston, Ben
Sent: Thursday, March 29, 2018 8:37 AM
To: PHIL160{60839}Sp18
Cc: Alvarado, Ramon; Choi, Dong Yong; Ozen, Vasfi Onur; Porter, Benjamin Isaac Meyer; Tamez, Alejandro David
Subject: Blackboard issue affecting test 2

Dear students,

You might have received the following message about Blackboard. If Blackboard is not available by 10:00 (the start of the testing interval for test 2), then, when Blackboard is available again, I will revise the testing interval in Blackboard and will send you another email letting you know what the revised testing interval is.

Best,

Professor Eggleston

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From: KU Information Technology
Sent: Thursday, March 29, 2018 8:05 AM
To: KU Information Technology
Subject: Blackboard Unavailable - We are working to restore service

3/29/18 7:58 a.m.

Blackboard is currently unavailable due to a technical issue. KU IT staff are working with the vendor to make the service available as soon as possible. We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience as we work to restore this service. We will continue to update you as information becomes available.

The Blackboard outage is related to overnight problems with our storage systems, which impacted several KU technology services. We were able to resolve issues with those other services. If you experience issues with other services this morning, please contact the IT Customer Service Center at 785-864-8080 or itcsc@ku.edu.

February 22, 2018:

Today I sent the following email message to all enrolled students:

From: Eggleston, Ben
Sent: Thursday, February 22, 2018 7:53 AM
To: PHIL160{60839}Sp18
Cc: Alvarado, Ramon; Choi, Dong Yong; Ozen, Vasfi Onur; Porter, Benjamin Isaac Meyer; Tamez, Alejandro David
Subject: Introduction to Ethics - schedule revision due to campus closure

Dear students,

Because of the closure of the Lawrence campus today, I am revising our course schedule as follows:

1. The deadline for homework 1 is extended by 24 hours, to 1 p.m. on Friday, February 23.

2. The reading assigned for Tuesday, February 27, will be the reading that was originally assigned for Tuesday, February 20 (the second half of the ethical egoism reading). Consequently (and contrary to what I said in my email to you two days ago), all of the ethical egoism material will be on the test on March 29.

3. We will skip the utilitarianism unit of our course (originally scheduled for February 22 and 27) and that topic will not be on the test on March 29.

Also, if you have not already done so, please consider taking a moment to complete the interim evaluation of our course posted on the course Blackboard site. It will be available there through the end of today.

Best,

Professor Eggleston

February 20, 2018:

Today I sent the following email message to all enrolled students (but note that item 2 was superseded by an email message on February 22):

From: Eggleston, Ben
Sent: Tuesday, February 20, 2018 9:18 AM
To: PHIL160{60839}Sp18
Cc: Alvarado, Ramon; Choi, Dong Yong; Ozen, Vasfi Onur; Porter, Benjamin Isaac Meyer; Tamez, Alejandro David
Subject: Introduction to Ethics - schedule update related to class cancellation

Dear students,

You might be wondering how the cancellation of classes on the Lawrence campus today until 1 p.m. will affect our course. After today we will continue to follow the schedule specified in the syllabus; today’s class cancellation will just have the following two consequences:

1. Today we will not have lecture (or discussion sections beginning after the cancellation notification was sent out).

2. The test on March 29 will not include the material that was specified for today on the schedule (the second half of the ethical egoism material).

So, as indicated on the syllabus, please read chapter 9 of the textbook before this Thursday’s lecture, and follow the instructions for homework 1 (which is due at 1 p.m. on Thursday).

Best,

Professor Eggleston

January 8, 2018:

Today I sent the following email message to all enrolled students:

From: Eggleston, Ben
Sent: Monday, January 8, 2018 9:07 AM
To: PHIL160{60839}Sp18
Cc: Alvarado, Ramon; Choi, Dong Yong; Ozen, Vasfi Onur; Porter, Benjamin Isaac Meyer; Tamez, Alejandro David
Subject: Introduction to Ethics - introductory information

Dear students,

Hello. I’ll be your professor for PHIL 160, Introduction to Ethics, and I am writing to you today in order to give you some information that you might find useful as you gear up for the semester.

First, as you probably know, you have to be enrolled in one of our course’s twenty discussion sections as well as being enrolled in the lecture portion of the course. Your first class will be the lecture next Tuesday (January 16) at 10 a.m., in 110 Budig, followed by the lecture on Thursday, and then you will have your first discussion section (in some other room, specific to your discussion section) sometime later that week, or early the following week. Discussion sections will not meet on January 16.

Second, you will need to buy the textbook I have chosen for this course. It’s The Fundamentals of Ethics, 4^th edition, by Russ Shafer-Landau (Oxford University Press, 2018), ISBN 978-0-19-063139-0. I have asked the KU bookstore to stock this book, or you can buy it elsewhere, including online. There will also be some other required readings, provided on Blackboard. Because of their length, you should be prepared to print them out rather than reading them on a computer screen.

Third, I have set up a web site for the course, at http://www.benegg.net/courses/ethics19. I’ve posted the syllabus there (though I will also hand out hard copies on the first day of class) and I may post other things there as the course progresses. You won’t be responsible for reading anything there prior to our first class, so you don’t have to worry about it right away. I just wanted to go on and give you the URL.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to email me. Meanwhile, I’m looking forward to seeing you next Tuesday at 10 a.m., in 110 Budig.

Best wishes,

Professor Eggleston